Thoughts on the Reformed faith, preparation for ministry, and doing all to the glory of God.

The Tulip Driven Life Podcast

Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Tulip Driven Life Ch. 1 Pt. 1: Feeding as Sheep

When we cease to come together
with other believers to feed under the authority of the undershepherd God has
placed over us, we cease to live the TULIP driven life.

After
Peter had denied Christ three times John 21 tells us Jesus restores Peter by
telling him to feed His sheep three times:

15 So
when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of
Jonah,[b] do you
love Me more than these?”

He
said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He
said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

16 He
said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah,[c] do you
love Me?”

He
said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He
said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

17 He
said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah,[d] do you
love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third
time, “Do you love Me?”

And
he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus
said to him, “Feed My sheep.”

Peter and the apostles were the rock, the foundation
upon which Christ would build His church, and Christ’s charge to Peter was to
feed and tend His flock. You and I are the flock of Christ, which means, among
other things, we are dumb, ignorant, prone to forget what we were just told,
and worst of all, stubborn. We don’t enjoy being rebuked, charged, and exhorted
even as Christians, especially as Calvinists. It is easy for us to believe
that, since we have the gospel right, we can get the rest right largely on our
own. We may begin to think that our local pastor doesn’t know as much as we do,
or isn’t preaching what he should be, and while all of that may very well be
true, it doesn’t change the fact that we are sheep who need the shepherd’s food
and rod.

No pastor is perfect, but assuming you are a member
of a Bible believing church that is preaching the gospel, administering the
sacraments, and practicing church discipline, then you have a true
undershepherd over you, and God commands you to feed from his teaching and
receive his correction. If you are not a member of a church, then you need to
become one. In the same way a marriage must be formally announced and made
official by the church before it is consummated, so a child of God must come
before the church to become a member in order to receive the blessings of the
church community, to come inside the fence of the sheepfold. It is the
rebellious sheep that does not have the humility to become a member of a Bible
believing church and wanders aloof from the flock. This shows our stubbornness,
our unwillingness to submit to those whom God has put in place for our
well-being. Maybe the pastor doesn’t have a lot of savory sayings, maybe he
isn’t as pithy as you would like, perhaps his voice doesn’t thunder when it
ought, or maybe he seems dry and unamicable. The reality is that pastors are
sheep too, which means they are also stubborn, forgetful, and sinful. There
will be no perfect pastor, there will always be disappointment, and every
undershepherd will mislead his flock at some point, starving a few sheep while
tickling the ears/fattening the bellies of others.

We are
called to demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit, which includes patience and
longsuffering. Sometimes, we must endure with patience and longsuffering
inadequate shepherding. This is not to say that there isn’t a time to speak up
and talk to the pastor about his pastoring, nor does it mean that there are not
times where another shepherd should be sought, but all of this must be done
with humility and deference, because imperfect pastors have been anointed by
God to feed His imperfect people.

Submitting
to Pastoral Authority

Part of being a sheep means recognizing pastoral
authority. When the pastor steps behind the pulpit, he is not the pope, but he
is the mouthpiece of God. Consider this- in John 17:17-20 Jesus prays to God
for all believers, that all sheep will heed the words of His disciples and be
saved. Christ calls His disciples, His apostles, and now His pastors to carry
on the task of feeding the sheep in His absence, until His return. But it is
not a total absence, in fact, Christ is more near than ever, because the sheep
and the undershepherd have in common the Holy Spirit of Christ dwelling within
them, which convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pastors reflect the munus triplex of Christ, being in some
sense our prophet, priest, and king. Like David, they can sin greatly and lead
the sheep astray, but they have the anointing of God upon them to feed us the
Bread of Life- Christ Himself. They administer the sacraments, and they bar the
table. They prophetically speak to us about the judgments and blessings that
the Word of God reveals. They praise faithfulness and pronounce forgiveness to
the repentant, and they turn the rebellious, unrepentant sheep over to the
devil to be saved (1 Cor. 5:5). They are held to a higher standard because they
have a special anointing and authority over the flock and will receive the
greater judgment if they do so poorly (Jas. 3:1). Being a good sheep means
understanding this, understanding who is in charge, understanding that when the
shepherd gives out food on Sundays, it’s more than a lecture, but it comes with
the authority of God Himself. It is foolishness and disobedience toward God not
to come with a humility and sobriety, a desire to be taught as a sheep by the
shepherd.